Tagged: Yes Network

Sunday marked the final day of the 2015 regular Major League Baseball season. Which, figuratively speaking, meant all 30 clubs used their might to push the sun back up into the sky and give us one more day of summer.

Even though it was a blustery October day.

The baseball world also learned the layout of this year’s postseason; who’s in the dance and who’s not. After days of waiting, we now know the Yankees will host the Houston Astros at 8:08 p.m. on Tuesday in a do-or-die Wild Card game. The defending American League champions and winners of the American League Central division, the Kansas City Royals, will take on whoever emerges victorious Tuesday night.

The road is going to be anything but easy for the pinstripers, who in terms of the playoffs, aren’t on the outside looking in for the first time since 2012.

But the playoffs start Tuesday. Now is yearly time for regular season reflection. A chance to tout the achievements of the 2015 Yankee team.

Yes, the annual awards.

Yankee Yapping Rookie of the Year

Winner: Greg Bird

Greg Bird flew in on Aug. 13, and could not have landed at a better time. Four days after he was promoted to the big club, first baseman Mark Teixeira fouled a ball off his leg and was injured. Bird was thrust into the role of everyday first baseman, and to say the least, he rose to the occasion and produced.

In his short time with the club (45 games), Bird knocked in 30 runs, slugged .523 and generated an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of .862. What’s more, he flexed his muscles with 11 homers. This writer, in fact, saw one of those round-trippers live on Sept. 7, when he crushed a home run in the Yankees’ 8-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

The 22-year-old Bird truly soared like an eagle since his arrival. And if the Yankees want a deep run in the postseason this month, he really must spread his wings.

Yankee Yapping Comeback Player of the Year

Winner: Alex Rodriguez

The type of season Alex Rodriguez put together was nothing short of remarkable. Perhaps the most stunning aspect of his 33-home run, 86-RBI campaign is that no one predicted it.

If you would have asked even the staunchest proponent of A-Rod’s at the beginning of the season, they likely would have said his ceiling was 20 homers and 55 RBI.

Rodriguez not only proved the naysayers (including this writer) wrong, but he did so in historic fashion. On May 7 Rodriguez passed Willie Mays on the all-time home runs list, mashing a tater off Chris Tillman of the Orioles.

A month and 12 days later, Rodriguez blasted a first-inning home run off Justin Verlander of the visiting Detroit Tigers. It was his 3,000th career hit, and only the third time in baseball history (behind Wade Boggs and Derek Jeter) a player hit the ball into the stands for his 3,000th career hit.

Rodriguez also set an AL record for most career RBI, passed 2,000 career RBI, and passed Roberto Clemente on baseball’s all-time hits list.

Oh, and with three homers in one game against the Minnesota Twins on July 25, Rodriguez became the fifth-oldest player to hit three homers in a single game.

Some possible attribution to Rodriguez’s success: making him, at age 40, the full-time designated hitter. That decision by the Yankees has paid dividends. Rodriguez appearing in 150 games this season is proof of that.

Either way, the type of season he had – I’d call that a comeback. A comeback with a vengeance.

Yankee Yapping Ace of the Year

Winner: Masahiro Tanaka

Admit it. You thought Masahiro Tanaka’s elbow was going to fall off.

Last summer when it was revealed the Yankees’ big-ticket starting pitcher had a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm, most Yankee fans panicked. They feared the three words that are as common as a routine fly ball in this day and age: Tommy John surgery.

Tanaka opted to treat his tear with a platelet rich plasma injection, and came back to pitch in 2014. Before the season began, Yankee manager Joe Girardi said he expected Tanaka to make 34 starts.

Skip’ was 10 numbers off, as Tanaka made 24 starts. Forearm and wrist soreness sidelined him early in the season, plus when the opportunities arose, Girardi rested him.

Despite missing those 10 games and spending time on the disabled list, the man from Japan proved to be pretty effective when he needed to be.

On Sept. 13 in particular, he hurled seven shutout innings in the Bronx as the Yankees blanked the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-0. Although Toronto went on to win the AL East, the game was important in terms of staying in the race for the division title.

Against those same Jays at Rogers Centre on Aug. 15, Tanaka put on a virtuoso performance. He tossed a complete game five-hitter, and the Yanks beat the Jays, 4-1.

Tanaka’s won-lost record isn’t reflective of a very dominant season: 12-7. His season earned run average wasn’t bad, but not the lowest number out there: 3.51. He gave up 25 home runs over the course of the year, which in the eyes of many armchair managers, is probably too many.

But he gave the Yankees 150-plus innings. Tanaka kept the ball in the strike zone by fanning 139 hitters – and only issuing 27 walks. He performed when they needed him to perform.

And he will need to bring his maestro-like skills on Tuesday and serenade the Bronx with another rendition of the tune “Tanaka wins.”

Yankee Yapping Platinum Sluggers of the Year

Winners: Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran

The Yankees suffered a devastating blow on Aug. 17 when Mark Teixeira fouled a ball off his leg. The first baseman sustained a fracture, and the injury –a freak injury, at that – ended his season.

But before he was forced to watch the rest of the 2015 from the bench, Teixeira was raking. He crushed 31 homers and drove in 79 runs. He was on pace to smash 40 or more homers, drive in over 100 runs and analysts put his name and the term “American League Most Valuable Player” in the same sentence at certain times.

The injury may have negated it all, but make no mistake about it: Teixeira played well.

Carlos Beltran on the other hand avoided major injuries, and turned on the jets during the second half of the season. After the All-Star break, Beltran clubbed 12 of his 19 home runs. He finished with 67 RBI, 37 of which came after the midway point.

Beltran’s best may be yet to come, as he’s a well-known stud in the playoffs. So much so, in fact, that he’s earned the nickname “Senor Octubre” among some folks.

In the postseason, Beltran is a lifetime .333 hitter with 16 homers and 40 RBI. He’s also scored 45 runs, slugged .683 and owns a .445 on-base percentage.

In less than 48 hours we’ll see if he delivers, but he went out with a bang: three hits in the Yanks’ 9-4 loss to Baltimore in the season finale Sunday.

Yankee Yapping Reliever of the Year

Winner: Dellin Betances

Although he’s been struggling of late, Dellin Betances was as consistent as they come this year.

An almost automatic eighth inning shutdown machine, Betances struck out 131 hitters in just 84 innings pitched. Of those 84 innings, he only allowed 45 hits. However, his walk total was a bit high: he issued 40 free passes. But most of the time, he was able to wiggle out of danger.

Case in point: Sept. 7.

Betances walked the first three he faced, but bounced back to strike out the next three in order.

What’s more, he showed maneuverability. Betances took on the closer role when needed, and saved nine games.

Yankee Yapping Most Valuable Player

Winner: Andrew Miller

The formula was simple. A song with a statement played, the closer came in and then slammed the door.

“You can run on for a long time. Run on for a long time. Run on for a long time. Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down.”

The words heard each time Andrew Miller came in to finish off the opposing team.

Fightin’ words. One might even say words a little harsher than the lyrics to “Enter Sandman,” used by Mariano Rivera, one of Miller’s predecessors.

Harsher words, perhaps, but when the sweet sounds of Johnny Cash came blaring through the Yankee Stadium speakers, you knew the game was over.

Miller saved 36 games in 38 opportunities this season, striking out 100 batters in 61 2/3 innings. He held opponents to a .151 batting average, and tested hitters while attacking them.

A tactic Troy Tulowitzki knows about.

On Aug. 14 with the game on the line, the Blue Jays shortstop stood between the Yankees and a pivotal win. It took 12 pitches and the dramatic at-bat put the baseball world on the edge of its collective seat, but Miller got the job done.

His whiff of Tulowitzki was one of the most clutch performances of the season, and one of the many examples of how valuable he truly was.

Yankee Yapping Lifetime Achievement Award

Winner: Yogi Berra

The world – not just the baseball world, the world in general – lost a treasure the morning of Sept. 22.

Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra, the Yankees’ famed catcher and legendary philosopher, passed away at the age of 90.

Berra won the most World Series of any player in history with 13 (10 as a player, three as a coach). He smacked 358 home runs and possessed a lifetime batting average of .285. It’d be easy to sit here and write out every noted accolade Berra amassed over the course of his career.

But let’s talk about the man for a second.

Let’s mention how in love he was with his wife Carmen, and his family. Let’s mention how he served our great country as a gunner’s mate in the United States Navy during World War II. Let’s mention how his wit and easygoing personality impacted everyone around him, even those he didn’t personally know.

His fantastic “Yogi-isms” will be a part of our culture forever. Our millennial generation can now pass on his wisdom. The next era needs to know that you can observe a lot by watching, and that baseball is 90 percent half mental.

The rest is physical.

The YES Network publicly aired Berra’s funeral – a beautiful sendoff for a beautiful man. I noticed the gospel passage, which was elegantly read by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, was the same gospel passage read at my grandfather’s funeral on April 15 last year. John 14:1-7, a reading that explores comfort in a time of impending sadness.

I felt that only fitting, especially because I read an article with the headline “Yogi Berra, ‘everyone’s grandfather,’ dies.”

Again, fitting. Grandfathers have a way about them, brightening the lives of their grandchildren. How many lives has Berra illuminated with his wit and charm?

Too many to count.

Berra has a prime seat in Heaven now for the postseason. Maybe the proverbial fork in the road is the World Series.

Today marked Derek Jeter’s final Sunday afternoon game in the Bronx, and The Captain made a nice lasting impression igniting the Yankees with two hits, an RBI and a run scored. Brian McCann was no slouch either, crushing his 21st and 22nd home runs of the season to help power the Bombers to a 5-2 win over Toronto.

Not to fly under the radar, Masahiro Tanaka made his first start since July 8 at Cleveland and pitched like a guy who doesn’t have a minor tear in his UCL. The young man from Japan tossed 5 1/3 innings and only let up one run on five hits. He kept the ball around the plate, throwing 48 of his 70 pitches for strikes; no walks and he struck out four.

“He looked exactly the same, which is such an encouraging sign,” McCann told Meredith Marakovits of YES after catching Tanaka. “There was no rust, it seemed like. Early on he missed his fastball location a little bit, but other than that he pitched a flawless game.”

“Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with how I pitched today,” Tanaka said in a postgame presser. “I was able to go pretty strong today, so I’m relieved.”

In the bottom of the fifth Brett Gardner drove a liner over the wall in right field to break a 1-1 tie and give the Yanks the lead for good; a bomb that went for his 17th tater of the season. More significantly it went as the Yankee team’s 15,000th lifetime home run, the most of any team, ever.

That’s right: since 1903, 15,000 home runs off the bats of pinstripers. That’s a big number.

A Yankee win is always thrilling, but the most thrilling moment for this writer came before the final out was made. During the telecast, former perfect game pitcher, five-time World Series champ, and current YES color analyst David Cone mentioned Yankee Yapping!

Big thank you to Coney for the nod! Best 16 seconds (give or take) in this blog’s life.

‘Tis the season of the cracking of the bat and the popping of the leather. Yes, MLB Spring Training is finally here, and yesterday the Yankees began their string of exhibition games. As it is, the Bronx Bombers dropped both of their first two Grapefruit League games to Pittsburgh, losing 6-5 Wednesday and 8-2 today – though we all know final scores are probably the least important stat when it comes to Spring Training.

It’s all about fine tuning and getting ready for April, when the scores count and the Yanks embark on their quest for World Series title number 28. Yankee Captain Derek Jeter, who as we all know announced his retirement after this upcoming season, declared today that he wants to go out a winner:

“We’re the last team standing and we win the championship.

That’s the only way I envision it ending.”

In order for that happen, a lot has to go right. First of all…

CC Sabathia needs a bounce-back campaign

Last year CC Sabathia faced arm problems, really for the first time ever in his career. The Yankee ace lost 13 games in 2013 and only won 14, coming off 2012 when he won 15 – a far cry from the 21 and 19-win seasons he put up in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Last season Sabathia’s ERA was 4.78, the highest earned run average he’s ever posted in his career.

If you’re the type of analyst who likes to throw wins and ERA out the window, here’s something to chew on: Sabathia let up 28 home runs in 2013 – another career-high for a single season. If that isn’t enough, here’s something else to consider: Sabathia served up more taters than Phil Hughes last season, the former homer-happy Yankee and now-Minnesota Twin. Hughes allowed 24 hitters to leave the yard last year compared to Sabathia’s 28.

Yes. You know it’s bad when you’ve given up more long balls than Hughes.

There’s no debating the fact that Sabathia needs to turn it around; be the ace the Yankees bought him for prior to 2009, or at least be close to what he was. It’s not too much to ask, mostly because he’s already proven the type of anchor he can be to a pitching staff.

To his credit, Sabathia slimmed down and lost some weight. According to Michael Kay of YES, Sabathia came into Spring Training last year just under 300 lbs., whereas this year he showed up around 275 and visibly thinner.

Obviously Sabathia is taking serious steps towards getting back to form, but he needs to cut down on the home runs and be clutch this year if the Yankees want to be that last team standing.

Stay healthy, New York

You cannot predict injuries. It’s a fact of sports life. In recent times the Yankees have had a ton of hard luck when it comes to injuries, and they haven’t been able to field a complete team.

New Yankee Jacoby Ellsbury has failed to appear in 100 games in two of the last four seasons because of injuries. In 2010 the speedy center fielder only played 18 games and in 2012 he played just 74, thanks to fractured ribs as a result of an outfield collision (’10) and a collision on the base paths trying to break up a double play (’12).

In between he’s been as solid as they come, though. 2011 was Ellsbury’s best season to date. With 32 home runs, 105 RBIs, a .321 batting average, 212 hits, and an All-Star nod, he was arguably the best all-around player in the American League. Being the runner-up for the AL MVP award, while taking home a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger, is only a testament to how fantastic he truly was in ‘11.

That begs the question, which Ellsbury will be showing up in 2014? The perennial All-Star or the injury prone player who gives up his body en route to disabled list stints?

And Ellsbury is just one example.

To supplant Herculean second baseman Robinson Cano, who split for Seattle, the Yankees signed Brian Roberts – a 36-year-old second sacker once feared by all as a Baltimore Oriole, but has only played 192 games over the last four seasons on account of injuries. (Roberts managed to play 77 games last year, 17 in ’12, 39 in ’11, and 59 in ’10).

Doing the math, Roberts has missed 456 games over the past four seasons; DL stints and concussions have eaten him up. Keep in mind, specifically, he ruptured a tendon behind his right knee last April vs. Tampa Bay attempting a steal of second base.

Knowing all that, will Roberts be a comeback player and offer reliability, or will he simply be unproductive and relegated to the disabled list for a large chunk of the season?

The question marks of Ellsbury and Roberts are of course piled on top of apprehension about Jeter and Mark Teixeira. Jeter (39, 40 in June) as we all know is coming off ankle injuries that limited him to 17 games in 2013, while Teixeira (33, 34 in April) is coming back from wrist problems that only allowed him to play 15 games last year.

How each of these players respond is obviously a “to be determined” but at the same time there is no crystal ball in existence to let us know if they’ll be able to grind out the entire season injury-free.

The bullpen has to be effective

It’s fair to say the Yankees’ bullpen was probably their weakest link last year, even with the legendary Mariano Rivera at the back end closing everything out – which really tells you the whole story. This writer keeps asking himself,

“If the bullpen wasn’t that good with Rivera last year, what can we expect without him this year?

David Robertson, as of now, is expected to succeed Mo in the closer role, which is scary to think about. If you recall in 2012 when Rivera’s season ended on May 3 on the warning track in Kansas City, Robertson was plugged into his spot as closer, but he didn’t cut it.

In just his second save opp a week after Rivera went down, Robertson failed to protect a 1-0 lead over Tampa Bay, giving up a three-run homer to Matt Joyce. He later gave up another run and the Yankees went on to lose, 4-1. Robertson called it afterward “the worst feeling in the world.”

Luckily in 2012 the Yankees had the option of using Rafael Soriano in Robertson’s stead – an option that worked out well, given that Soriano saved 42 games in Rivera’s absence.

Now, similarly, the Yankees have signed former Oakland A’s closer (and 2009 AL Rookie of the Year) Andrew Bailey, albeit to a minor league contract. Bailey has 89 saves to his name in his short career, with experience as a closer, making him the logical choice to succeed Rivera over Robertson.

However…

Bailey, like a lot of other Yankees, has a history with injuries. In 2012 he had reconstructive surgery on his right thumb, and just last year an MRI revealed he had a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder.

It’ll come down to whether or not Bailey can make it back from injury and be a shutdown pitcher like he once was. For now though, the Yankees have a premiere setup man in Robertson – and that’s about it, because Robertson isn’t a proven closer.

At least not yet.

Looking outside the back end of the bullpen, the middle relievers need to step up too. Shawn Kelley and Preston Claiborne are going to be two important pieces to the bullpen, along with newcomer Matt Thornton, the tall order who’ll replace Boone Logan (now with the Colorado Rockies) as the main southpaw out of the ‘pen.

Sources are saying former top Yankee pitching prospect Dellin Betances will be vying for a spot in the bullpen this spring, as it’s already been established by Yankee GM Brian Cashman that he will be a reliever in the long run. Betances could either prove to be a key middle reliever or long reliever, yet he has to pitch well enough for the Yankee brass to have faith in him – and well enough to keep himself off mopping duty.

The Opening Day bullpen is likely going to come down to whichever relievers are effective during Spring Training, and the point stands: they have to be effective, whoever they may be when camp breaks.

Masahiro Tanaka has to adapt

Nobody is expecting Masahiro Tanaka to go 24-0 and post an ERA under 2.00 in his rookie season, but if there is one thing the new, prized Japanese import must do, it’s get acclimated to the MLB style. His numbers in Japan were far better than a lot of the other Japanese-born pitchers who’ve come over from the land of the rising sun, meaning he could potentially have a huge year, but the average fan might not realize a couple of things.

First off, pitchers in Japan throw only once a week, whereas here in the states, Tanaka will have to toe the rubber once every five days. Not only that, but the NPB in Japan also uses smaller-sized baseballs compared to an official MLB rock, therefore an adjustment needs to be made in that respect.

The biggest difference will be the hitters Tanaka faces. Monsters such as David Ortiz, Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout and Prince Fielder will probably pose bigger threats (and are more intimidating) than the more tactical batters he went eye-to-eye with in Japan.

Though one could argue Tanaka won’t be fazed by the Goliath-like giants he faces here in the U.S., given his cool demeanor and calm presence at his introductory press conference.

While it’s perfectly fine to expect Tanaka to succeed – and he will – it’s reasonable to presume he will go through his growing pains. Adjustment is the biggest part of his game.

We’ll get our first live look at Tanaka on Saturday afternoon in the Yankees’ exhibition vs. the Phillies.

They have to make each other better

The key to any successful team is chemistry. Most of the 2014 Yankees will be first-time teammates, not having played with each other before. While some like Jeter, Teixeira and Brett Gardner have been together for a few seasons, newbies like Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran have not had a chance to jell as teammates.

If you look back to 2009 – and the Dynasty years, for that matter – a player could have an off-night, but the rest of the team would be on. For example,

In 1998, Tino Martinez might have an “0-for” night, but Jeter, Bernie Williams, Scott Brosius, and Paul O’Neill would be firing at will, and the Yanks would win. The next night Jeter could have gone 0-for-4, but Martinez and everyone else would still be en fuego.

Those teams were the masters of picking each other up.

If the 2014 Yankees can perfect that same art, they’ll be as lethal as any team in baseball.

We may never know if Jay-Z made the Yankee cap more famous than a Yankee could, but we do know he made Robinson Cano richer than he was before he ever put on a Yankee cap.

As we all know by now, Cano and his rap star agent agreed to a 10-year, $240 million pact with the Seattle Mariners this morning, giving the Pacific Northwest a perennial all-star second baseman while leaving Yankee Universe high and dry in disbelief. The Yankees had made futile efforts to re-sign the studly second baseman, making him a final offer of a seven-year deal worth around $175 million. Seattle dug deeper into its pocket and voila. Cano is a Mariner.

Michael Douglas was right. Greed is good.

Being a homegrown Yankee, and arguably the best product of the Yankee farm system over the last decade or so, it’s a huge blow to the Yankees on a personal level; on a sentimental level. On a professional level, it’s a huge blow, considering Cano is a consistent player, always good for 100 RBIs; he smacks close to 30 homers a year, and the last time he batted under .300 was 2008 (.271).

Losing Cano’s defense is also tragic for the Bronx Bombers, as he’s a durable piece – he’s missed just eight games since 2010. Two Gold Gloves on his ledger also prove the point the Yanks have lost not just a great player, but an outstanding player.

On the Yankees’ side, Cano’s signing with Seattle is only good from a business perspective. They weren’t forced to succumb to his high salary demands, and can use the money to pursue other free agents that can help turn them from an 85-win team into a contender again.

And if you remember back to the 1999 movie For Love of the Game, pitcher Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) was told he was being traded from the Detroit Tigers to the San Francisco Giants at the end of the season. The team owner Gary Wheeler explained,

“Everything’s changed, Billy. The players, the fans, TV rights, arbitrations. It isn’t the same. The game stinks.”

While baseball is and always will be the best game in the world, today – for the Yankee fans who adore Cano – the quote holds true. The game stinks.

Analysis

It’s a shame. Cano was my favorite current player, and the most impactful player on the team over the past three or four years. Losing him doesn’t even seem real.

There have been some solid products of the Yankee farm system these past few years (David Robertson, Brett Gardner) but I don’t think they’ve been as valuable on a daily basis as Cano. I don’t believe there’s been another thoroughbred that has been as clutch as Cano, and his presence will be missed next year.

Do I think Cano is greedy?

Yes, but so are the rest of the players that take big money. So is the rest of the world, in fact. He was offered a sum and a certain amount of years by the Yankees. He was offered a greater sum and more years by the Mariners and chose to go in the direction of money, rather than a full, career legacy in pinstripes.

It’s sad that he didn’t want to stay, because in the past we’ve seen players get offered fat contracts with ridiculous money attached to them – only for them to just plain go where they wanted to go, regardless of money or years.

For example, Cliff Lee.

In the 2010 offseason, both the Yankees and Texas Rangers were prepared to give Lee (a then-free agent) a lot of coin and a lot of time. In the end, however, he chose to go to the Philadelphia Phillies, a team he had already pitched for and enjoyed playing for – and he signed back for less money than the Yanks and Rangers were going to give him.

At the time I (and the rest of Yankees Universe, and the front office, I’m sure) were upset with Lee for holding them up, practically, at the winter meetings. The Yanks held off on talks with other players waiting for Lee to decide what his plan was in terms of choosing a team.

Now, however, I wish Cano had taken a page out of Lee’s book, and had just gone back to the team where he made his name, even if it meant taking a pay cut.

Sometimes I just don’t understand it all. Cano is already a multi-millionaire. If he’s being offered $175 million by the Yankees and $240 million by the Mariners – with millions and millions banked and probably invested properly – what’s the difference? Is another $65 million going to make that much of a difference at the end of your career?

The truth is, Cano could retire today, use 100 dollar bills as toilet paper, and still remain financially secure for the rest of his life.

Bottom line though: his decision was based on money and not legacy. Cano is a goner and there is nothing we can do about it.

But let’s weigh the good with the bad here.

The Good

The Yankees have money to spend now. There are a lot of other free agents on the market and the Yankee brass can go after basically whomever they darn well please.

Four significant free agent agreements (one official signing so far) have already taken place. Just yesterday the Yankees unveiled their new catcher Brian McCann, who is a seven-time all-star and has a lefty swing tailor made for Yankee Stadium. The Yanks also stole one of Boston’s reigning World Series champs, outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury. Like McCann, his left-handed swing will likely translate well to the Yankee Stadium short porch. And NOW, literally as I was typing this up, the Yankees have agreed to a three year, $45 million deal with outfielder Carlos Beltran – a switch-hitting power hitter who is as clutch as they come in October. Also coming back is P Hiroki Kuroda, who earned himself a year and $16 million.

Cano didn’t go to a team that poses a threat to the Yankees taking the AL East. Or, really a team that poses any type of threat to the Yankees at all. When you think of the Seattle Mariners, you think of ace starting pitcher Felix Hernandez and nobody else. Now when you think of the Seattle Mariners, you’ll think of Hernandez, Cano…and nobody else. If Cano had gone to Boston or even Baltimore, Detroit, or Texas, I’d be worried.

The insight of Hal Steinbrenner at McCann’s introductory presser yesterday. In his words, the Yankees are shooting for that “189 mark” (trying to keep the payroll under $189 million) but it won’t come at the expense of putting a winning team on the field. He also mentioned the Yankees are not done this winter. There will be more signings, and they could come at really any time – as evidenced by the timing of the Beltran deal tonight.

The Bad

The Yankees have a little bit of a void at second base. They picked up Kelly Johnson, a 20 home run type of guy – but at the same time a .230 batting average type of guy and a “who’s that?” on defense. They’ll need offensive production from the second base spot, as well as good D. They’ll miss Cano in that respect.

Again, the sentimental value of Cano. He was a real Yankee, and he beat feet. His minor league number is even retired by one of his first Yankee teams, the Staten Island Yankees (short season Single-A). What’s better than being a Yankee? Being a Mariner? I don’t know if the teal and navy blue measure up to what the pinstripes mean, but either way Cano was one of us. Now he’s a Mariner. If the Yankees want to seek retribution, they could always retire number 24 in the name of Tino Martinez as a middle finger to Cano. (I know they would never do that, but it’s nice to think about!)

Cano’s age and durability – and how the Yanks might miss it. He is only 31 and obviously has a lot of baseball life left in him. An according signing, Beltran, is 36 (37 on April 24). Cano’s health and durability has never come into question, whereas there will surely be a lot of questions surrounding Beltran’s health and durability. While Ellsbury’s age (30) isn’t a concern, his durability is. Ellsbury’s career has been injury-ravaged, and an eye opening stat came up today: he’s missed 264 of his last 648 regular season games. Ergo, the Yanks know what they had with Cano, but are uncertain with two of their big three free agent agreements thus far this winter.

Too many outfielders, not enough infielders. Now with Beltran in the outfield, there’s Alfonso Soriano, Brett Gardner, Ichiro, and Vernon Wells (he’s still a Yankee, remember?). Along with the void Cano left, third base could be a question mark, given A-Rod’s situation. Not to mention the Yanks need pitching too.

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Last thoughts

Today was one of the craziest days in recent memory, as far as the Yankees are concerned. I joked on Twitter that the YES Network could make Dec. 6, 2013 into a Yankeeography episode. It’s true. How often is it that a team loses its perennial player and responds the same exact day, hours later as a matter of fact, with a huge free agent agreement?

Not too often, I’d wager.

To Cano, best of luck in Seattle. You’ll be missed.

To Beltran, it’s my hope you stay healthy and durable, and put up power numbers similar to what Cano would have put up for the Yankees in 2014.

And it’s funny. Using the For Love of the Game analogy, Billy Chapel responded to the “the game stinks’ comment with,

“The game doesn’t stink, Mr. Wheeler. It’s a great game.”

When I started typing this, yes the game did stink. Now with a blockbuster free agent agreement – in the middle of completing this very blog post – the Yanks get a power hitter and the game doesn’t stink as much.

These days you can usually spot former Yankee right fielder and fan-favorite Paul O’Neill in the YES Network booth, making witty observations during broadcasts.

In the coming months, you’ll still see him on TV, but everyone – not just those watching Yankee games on YES – will know his name.

This afternoon it was announced that television network NBC is rebooting its hit show from 1982, Cheers – which O’Neill will be a part of. The man who the late, great George Steinbrenner once dubbed “The Warrior” will take on the role of Sam Malone, a character portrayed by actor Ted Danson in the original series.

The decision to pick up the role of a retired baseball player that runs his own bar was a no-brainer for O’Neill.

“I retired in 2001 after the World Series and I even thought about running my own bar when my baseball career ended because I didn’t know what was next,” O’Neill told the Associated Press earlier today.

“In a lot of ways I wanted my life to kind of be like Sam Malone’s life, from the show. He retired from the game and found something he loved to do. Now I can do the same. Of course on the show Sam was a pitcher and I played right field, so it’s a little different in that respect.”

Danson found success after Cheers, acting as the lead on the sitcom Becker, which ran from 1998-2004. He now works on CSI, seemingly landing hit role after hit role.Dansonhas seen some of O’Neill’s acting in the past, and the Emmy and Golden Globe award winner is proud to see someone carefree and fun-loving – like O’Neill – take up his mantle.

“I saw that episode of Seinfeld Paul was on in the ‘90s, and I laughed; I thought, right off the bat, he had a great sense of humor,” Danson told the AP. “I know he is perfect for the role, and I’m anxious to see how the new series is going to turn out and what direction all these wonderful characters are going to go in.”

“I’ve always thought Ted and Paul kind of looked a lot alike, but never would have thought in a million years this would happen,” Kay said.

“Paul is a pretty funny guy. In 2009 when the Yankees played the Red Sox in August, he sat up in the booth and ate peach yogurt when the game went into extra innings – on the air! Peach yogurt, on the air. That’s the type of personality he’ll bring to the Sam Malone character. I couldn’t be happier for him, I know he’ll do well.”

According to YES, O’Neill will work 30 games in the booth in 2013 before leaving to start filming the first season of the NBC series reboot. He will work alongside Jodie Sweetin (of Full House fame; she’ll play Diane Chambers, Shelley Long’s former character), Patton Oswalt (of King of Queens fame; he’ll play Norm Peterson, George Wendt’s former character), and David Faustino (of Married…with Children fame; he’ll play Woody Boyd, Woody Harrelson’s former character).

Roles for each of the other starring characters are still being cast.

With a new challenge ahead, plainly put, O’Neill is excited to get started.

“I can’t wait for the first table read,” he continued. “I can only hope I do as well on this sitcom as I did in right field. But I’m comfortable. I’m going where everybody knows my name.”

Cheers is expected to premier in October, the night after the World Series.

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If you believed this for one second, you’re way too gullible. Yet I suppose there isn’t anything wrong with a little yellow journalism on April 1.

While there’s plenty of offseason left and the Yankees haven’t seen a lot of back page action, there’ve been a few recent stories from the so-called “Bronx Bomber Front,” if you will.

First and foremost, the Yankees signed back 2007’s two breakout pitchers, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, inking both to one-year deals to avoid arbitration. Hughes was signed back for $7.15 million while Chamberlain was given just $1.88 million – startling, considering these two were pegged as the future of the Yankee pitching staff, and they’re coming back on a dime with no long-term commitment.

In this writer’s opinion, 2013 will be their final chance to prove whether or not they are truly the new breed of Yankee arms. Last year Hughes went 16-13 with an ERA of 4.23, which is somewhat respectable for a middle-of-the-rotation starter, but he was second in the majors in the home runs allowed category with 35. Not to mention he gave up two more long balls in the playoffs while posting a record of 0-1 in October.

If Hughes doesn’t get it straightened out this coming season, I’m afraid his time in pinstripes may be up. His main problem, as noted every year in Spring Training, seems to be his faith, or lack of faith, in his breaking ball. Hughes is characteristically a high-fastball pitcher, and when he hangs his breaking ball, hitters absolutely feast off it.

Bottom line: Hughes needs to right many wrongs this year, if he wants to stay a Yankee.

Chamberlain’s biggest problem in recent seasons has undoubtedly been his inability to stay healthy. In 2012 Chamberlain logged just 20.2 innings in 22 games, a bizarre ankle injury claiming most of his season.

It got worse for him in the playoffs when, in Game 4 of the ALDS, Matt Wieters of the Baltimore Orioles shattered his bat facing him; the broken shard of wood coming back and striking Chamberlain in the elbow, forcing him out of the game.

Aside from an electric debut in 2007 and a 2009 World Series ring, I would say it’s not unfair to compare Chamberlain to another injury-prone pitcher: Carl Pavano – who, I just read today, ruptured his spleen shoveling snow.

Why am I not surprised? Only Pavano. I mean…who else would that happen to?

But back to Chamberlain.

2013 will be a test for him. And if he fails, like Hughes, Chamberlain might have to bow out of the Bronx – and as we saw with Nick Swisher, it could potentially be a not-so-gracious departure.

Along with Hughes and Chamberlain, the Bombers announced the re-signing of another 27-year-old pitcher, David Robertson. The setup man from Alabama received $3.1 million for one year, also avoiding arbitration.

Typical move that made sense. Obviously the Yankees weren’t letting go of him. I suppose they got him for so cheap because of his 2-7 record last year – as he also proved he may not be suited to fill Mariano Rivera’s cleats. In his first save opp following Rivera’s season-ending injury, Robertson blew it vs. Tampa Bay and lost the closer role out to Rafael Soriano, who as we recently learned walked to the Washington Nationals.

Thankfully for the Yankees, Rivera is returning. And I expect Mo to be Mo, barring any lingering effects from his torn ACL. If his body responds nicely, it’s good news for the Bombers. However, as we saw with Chien-Ming Wang a few years back, leg injuries can damage a pitcher’s footing, causing a world of problems.

Then again, Wang’s injury was different from Rivera’s. Wang injured his pivot foot running home during an interleague game in Houston. Nonetheless, we’ll find out just how Mo will do after he runs out of the Yankee bullpen in April, “Enter Sandman” blaring through the Yankee Stadium speakers.

In addition to the retention of some pitchers, the Yankees announced that on March 30, in their last exhibition before Opening Day, they will travel to West Point and face the ARMY baseball team at the United States Military Academy.

Ever since they announced this special game, I’ve been wondering which key players the Yankees will bring to West Point. Being two days before Opening Day, I’m not exactly sure if many of the regulars, like Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Kevin Youkilis, Ichiro, Mark Teixeira, and Robinson Cano, will be playing.

I could see them bringing a few bigs, but certainly not all of them. I’d also like to explore the possibility of covering this game, if humanly possible. I might have to ask my publisher and editors to contact West Point for a credential to get in. I’d be honored to cover such a game, even though it’s simply an exhibition.

One player who won’t be at West Point on March 30 (at least not there to play, anyway) is Alex Rodriguez. The third baseman had surgery on Jan. 16 to repair a torn labrum, a procedure that was said to have gone off without a hitch.

Today Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman was interviewed on WFAN radio in New York and said Rodriguez may miss the entire 2013 season, although it is believed he could be back after the All-Star break.

A-Rod is signed on for a long time – through 2017, to be exact. I’m probably not in the minority here; a lot of folks probably feel the same way, but I for one would be interested to see how the Yanks would fare for a whole year without the 37-year-old slugger-in-decline. The postseason, should the Yankees make it, would be most interesting sans A-Rod, for sure.

Think about it: if the Yankees go all the way with no Rodriguez, it’ll be the classic “we never needed A-Rod to win” mind frame. By chance the Yankees get ousted early – or don’t make the postseason at all, for that matter – it’ll be the heavy “we need A-Rod to win” spiel.

Again, interesting for sure.

In the meantime, pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Tampa on Feb. 12 and their first full workout will take place the very next day. Position players report to camp on Feb. 17; their first full team workout scheduled, again, for the following day.

The Yanks’ first exhibition game will happen on Feb. 23 at the Braves – the tune-up games beginning nine days earlier because of the World Baseball Classic this spring. Teixeira will play for the USA team, which will be managed by former Yankee skipper Joe Torre.

Cano will play for the Dominican Republic squad, so even though real, meaningful baseball will not completely return until April 1, we’ll be treated to some Yankees playing in games featuring quality competition.

Until then, basketball and next Sunday’s Super Bowl are dominating the sports pages. Just for the heck of it, I’ll entertain you guys with a story from a high school girls’ basketball game I covered a couple weeks back.

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Basically this winter my editor put me on the girls hoops beat. My responsibility is to attend games and write about the girls’ basketball teams in our coverage area – and our newspaper has two of the top-ranked teams in New York state, which makes the job a lot of fun. The girls have been enjoying a tremendous amount of success these past two months.

On Thursday Jan. 10 I was covering a game; the final score being 38-32. Pretty close and low-scoring game, all the way through.

After interviewing the coaches from the winning team and the losing team, collecting their thoughts and impressions, I went to interview the girl with the most points on the winning side. The young lady, a junior forward, finished with 19 points (including two, 3-point field goals) leading all scorers.

Before I could conduct my interview, her friend ran up to her and embraced her, giving her a big hug. Standing next to her with my recorder in hand, ready to conduct the interview, her friend (in an attempt to be discreet, although I heard every word) asked her,

“Is that your boyfriend?”

She looked at me chuckled and replied, “No, he’s…the interviewer.”

Confused, yet aware of what her friend had asked her, I looked at her and said,

“Wait, did she just…”

Smiling, and clearly a little embarrassed, she mustered the response,

“Yeah, she did.”

With a beat red face I tried my best to shake it off, and then carried on, conducting my interview with her.

First of all, at 25 years old I’m so glad I look young enough to still be in high school. Makes me feel so grown up. And secondly, when things like this happen, it gives me more and more motivation and incentive to want to take the next step in my career; cover pro sports and not just high school games – risking incidents similar to this one because I apparently look as if I belong on “Barney & Friends.”

Not that I haven’t had a taste of pro sports coverage – I did, covering the Hudson Valley Renegades and Eli Manning’s appearance at the Guiding Eyes Golf Classic this past summer – but I’d like to expand upon that; do a lot more of it, more consistently.

I have been told in life there are three types of people: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happened.

As a current high school sports reporter and MLBlogger trying to take the next step in his career, I’m at the point where I want to make it happen. And what I have in mind might provide me with that chance.

Recently I was tossing ideas around in my head, thinking of companies to apply to while job hunting, and I somehow managed to venture over to the YES Network’s career page. In the past I’ve checked out the YES Network’s career page, but there was never anything listed. This time was a little different; there was one job posted:

Social Media Specialist.

As soon as I noticed the listing, I jumped on it. I tweaked my resume, pieced together an appropriate, well-written cover letter, and gathered the right material together to apply for the job – the right material basically being proof of all the times YES has used my insight via social media on its TV shows.

On May 8, 2010 YES used a comment I posted on its official Facebook page for the “Extra Innings” postgame show. There were no words to describe my excitement level, seeing my name and comment on TV when it first happened.

Fast forward to April 10, 2011. I wrote in another Facebook comment, and once again YES used my name and my words on “Extra Innings.”

June 9, 2012, same thing.

All of this YES Network social media craze reached new heights on Aug. 6 this year when YES actually used my question during the “YES Network Games,” a contest designed for viewers to tweet in trivia questions with the commentators trying to answer them.

After my name appeared, a few of my friends attempted to stage a Twitter hashtag rally entitled, #HireAJMartelli.

The YES Network should already know (just based on the history) how finely tuned my skills are when it comes to social media. In fact ESPN should also have the same idea, considering two of my comments made it onto the exclusive Baseball Tonight show during the “Chatter Up” segment in 2008 and 2009.

It’s also not as if I’m an uneducated, inexperienced stranger. My past work in other media outside of social media speaks for itself. If I could show something to the YES Network right now, this would be it; some highlights of my young career:

B.S. in journalism from Mercy College (class of 2010) where I served for two years as the sports editor of the Mercy student newspaper. The Mercy student paper won two New York Press Association awards while I served as sports editor, and I was awarded two Quill Awards (2009, ’10) for sports reporting, given to me by Mercy’s media studies department.

Went on to cover the 2012 Hudson Valley Renegades this past season. The ‘Gades captured the New York-Penn League Championship, beating the Tri-City Valley Cats. For their successful and winning campaign, the Renegades were voted the 2012 Minor League Baseball team of the year.

Have worked for the past two years (and continue to work) as a high school sports reporter. To coincide with the Yankee motif, one of my favorite times covering a high school game was sitting next to Bernie Williams, covering his daughter’s basketball game this past February. I even wrote an OP/ED that ran in the paper about how interesting it was, sitting next to a Yankee legend while working.

But I think what puts it all over the top for me is what you’re reading right now. Yankee Yapping has been lauded by MLB. It has been ranked in the top three MLBlogs and featured multiple times; it has garnered a solid amount of fanfare since I launched it in July, 2009.

The bottom line is, I have done a lot of work and paid a lot of dues. And now, if there is a chance to move up the ladder, I’d like to take it.

To anyone reading this with a Twitter page, and would like to help, tweet the link to this blog to @YESNetwork and help #HireAJMartelli.

Together, we can make it happen. Not watch it happen, or wonder what happened.

In the meantime, I have high school ice hockey to cover this weekend after the holiday. And if you were to ask me what I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, it’s having a job in the print media field, covering sports. No matter what level it happens to be on.